Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
I was supportive of Neil Harris last season and believed that his desire to alter the way we played was genuine. it should be remembered that while it was true we sometimes had to resort to "Warnockball" when our limitations were exposed, our late season run to finish fifth was largely based on a way of playing that was some way from how we played under the previous manager.
Therefore, my assumption was that the transfer window would be used to bring in players that could take us a bit further down the path that we had started on last season, but what we got was the usual big centre forward (albeit one I'd say who offered more than most others we've had down the years), other attackers who fitted into the cutting in wingers we have specialised in lately (again, Wilson is an upgrade on what we had, but essentially he's more of the same) , a big centreback, a goalkeeper and a full back who I think would be a step in the right direction if he could only stay fit.
To me, any change of style to a more patient, passing approach has to rely greatly on how we do in central midfield and, as I mentioned in my piece, the four Warnock left for Harris, are not ideally suited for such an approach. Therefore, to see us still reliant on a central midfield of full of scufflers (I accept that term is a bit unfair) leaves me, firstly, puzzled as to why our manager cannot see this and, second, somewhat dubious about how much he is really trying to change things.
Your final paragraph touches on a the third possibility which might apply when you mention a "Herculian effort" - one thing Harris has done this season is bring the average age of the team down a bit, but it is still, largely, an old side for this division and it may well be that without the usual break between seasons there wasn't enough time for some in the squad to recharge their batteries so to speak.